


Crescendo (<)

by EmmyR



Series: Dynamics [2]
Category: The Walking Dead - All Media Types
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Leadership, Mentions of Shane, Misunderstandings, Past Abuse, Tension, There's A Tag For That, Violence Against Walkers, spousal abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-21
Updated: 2014-10-23
Packaged: 2018-02-22 02:34:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2491292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmmyR/pseuds/EmmyR
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carl has to help keep watch, and Lori is furious. When someone misunderstands the aftermath, will that tear the group apart, or bring them together?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to preface this by saying that I do like Lori's character. However, after rewatching the first two episodes of season 3, I figured that something bigger must have happened to cause the divide between that family. All the claims that I make are my own, and have not been approved by AMC!!

“Dad, can I take watch?” Carl asked, fingering his pistol as they stopped in front of a house to hole up in for the night. There was frost on the ground, which made it so much more difficult to sleep outside.

Lori was the first to speak. “Absolutely not,” she snapped at her son. “You will stay in the car with me and Hershel to wait for the all clear.”

Rick was torn. He knew that his son was a good shot, having to learn quickly on the road. Daryl had badly twisted an ankle on a hunt the day before yesterday; Glenn and Maggie seemed to have come down with some sort of flu, or maybe even pneumonia. With some of the best fighters out of commission, it was going to be difficult to clear the area, and protect the rest of the group and the vehicles. He bit back a sigh. “You stay put outside the cars, keep an eye out. T Dog and I will check the house and the area around it. If you hear anything, or see anything, don’t shoot, and don’t shout out. Whistle twice, and one of us will come running.” He nodded to T and turned to head into the house, pulling out his gun and his machete as he did so.

A yank on his arm stopped him in his tracks. “You cannot be serious,” Lori hissed at him, as quietly as she could. “He is just a child, and you want him to be your watchdog for walkers? What the hell kind of father are you?”

Rick could tell that the others were trying not to listen, but it was difficult when they all had to keep an ear out for the familiar rasping and snarling. He took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. “I’m trying to keep this group alive,” he told her. “We don’t have a lot of options. I’m not having him come in with us. He’s staying here, just as he would regardless.”

Lori just glared at him, and quickly let go of his arm. He could tell, though, that there would be a conversation in their near future. He remembered the early days of them being on the run where they would go days without speaking. Could it be that he missed that?

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he looked at Daryl, who had limped off his motorcycle, which had to be a bitch to drive with his leg so messed up. The archer had already notched a bolt in his crossbow, and nodded at Rick. After several weeks together, it was clear to the group that Daryl had become Rick’s second in command, and they were able to communicate sometimes without a word. Rick knew that he would keep an eye on Carl for him.

He nodded to T, and together they went through the house. There were a few walkers, and they were put down with Rick’s machete and T’s spike. There weren’t nearly enough bullets that could be wasted at the moment. A sharp set of twin whistles had T and Rick sharing a brief glance before they hurried out of the house.

There were over a dozen walkers on the road. Rick knew right away that they would have to risk the noise of gunshots. “Carl, get over here,” he called. His son ran over, pistol held tight, and he motioned to him and T Dog. “Backs together, don’t let any sneak up on us,” he ordered, and the other two nodded. “Daryl, watch the back!”

Shots rang through the air as they took down each walker individually. Rick was panting by the time it was over. He wished like hell that he hadn’t needed Carl there, but the kid had pulled his own weight.

Trying to catch his breath, he looked around, but didn’t see any more of them. “Alright,” he began, looking around at the frightened group. “Hershel, get Glenn and Maggie inside and settled. See if there’s any medicine that isn’t too expired that can help them. Daryl, set up close to a window, keep watch for us, let us know if there are more coming.” Those two hurried to obey. He turned to the others. “Beth, Lori, get everything of ours inside and set up. We’ll see if we can’t hold up here for a few days, till everyone’s better. Carol, see if you can get the garage door opened. I’d like to get the cars inside if we can.”

Rick and T went about the un-fun job of moving the bodies, just in case there were other humans around, they didn’t want to advertise that there was someone living nearby.

By the time the sun was setting, everyone was finished with their jobs. Daryl was in a seat by the window, with his leg propped up on a couple of sheets, courtesy of Carol, while Lori had finished unloading anything lightweight from the cars. T had gone to siphon gas from a couple cars in the area, so they would have enough to last for a while.

Rick walked into the kitchen and found Carl burrowed in the cupboard looking for food. “I found some canned corn, stale cereal, and pretty moldy bread,” he announced proudly, showing the haul. It wasn’t much, but any food was welcome nowadays.

“Nice,” he told his son. “I’ll see about going scavenging the other houses later. I just want to wait until it’s light outside.”

Carl nodded, and went to take some of the food to the rest of the group, who were all gathered in the living room. They had found that it was a bit warmer when they were all sharing one room to sleep in. Privacy was nonexistent nowadays, regardless.

Lori passed him on her way into the kitchen, and tried to ruffle his hair. He ducked under her hand, grumbling all the way. She hid a pained look fairly well, but Rick knew her too well. Just like he knew how this conversation was going to go.

“Can we talk?” she asked, though it wasn’t really a question. When Rick just nodded, she continued. “What the hell were you thinking today? Huh? Our son is not even thirteen years old, and you had him out there fighting walkers; keeping watch for you. He’s not an adult, Rick!”

He knew that she was trying to keep her voice down again, and didn’t know if the others could even hear them at this point. “What would you have done, Lori?” he demanded. “He’s a better shot than you and Beth put together, and has better eyesight than Hershel. One person can’t clear a house alone. I knew I wasn’t bringing him inside until I was sure it was safe. The last house we stayed at had a dozen walkers inside, but none outside. So tell me, Lori. What would you have done in your almighty wisdom that I didn’t do?” he spat.

“Don’t patronize me, Rick,” she told him harshly. “I don’t know who you are anymore. I was going to stand by you, no matter what. You know that. That was when I knew what I was getting into. You start this dictatorship, start ordering people to follow you. You put our son in harm’s way today! Is that what Dale would have wanted? How about Shane?” As soon as she said the words, she knew that she had crossed a line.

Rick tried hard to control his breathing. “Shane? You really want to bring that into this conversation? For over a decade I never thought to question anything about our relationship. Even after you told me what happened while you thought I was dead, I didn’t question anything. You thought I was dead, and the world gone to shit, fine. You kept telling me how dangerous he was, and then I defend myself and kill him, and you don’t talk to me for weeks. That’s when I started questioning. What, would you have preferred it if I had been the one to die that day? You want Shane to be the one warming your bed at night?”

SMACK

Alright, so he didn’t know how this conversation was going to go. His head had whipped to the side, and he could already feel the heat rising from his cheek.

Time seemed to stop, and Lori stared at him, then her hand. “Shit,” she whispered. “Oh, fuck.”

Footsteps came running into the room, and Carol and Hershel entered. “What on earth is going on in here?” Hershel demanded.

Carol was glaring daggers at Rick. She walked right up and punched him in the jaw. He let out a grunt of pain, and tasted blood. She had gotten pretty good at a right hook, he had to give her that. He looked up as Lori burst into tears and ran out of the room and upstairs, away from everyone else. “Hitting your wife, Rick?” Carol could hardly breathe she was so angry. “I outta kill you right here!” she shouted, rushing for him again, but was pulled back by Carl.

“Stop it! Leave him alone, he didn’t do anything!”

“Kid, stay out of this…”

“Don’t talk to my son like that…”

A new voice interrupted them as more people walked into the small kitchen. “What the hell is going on here?” Daryl demanded, limping as quickly as he could without putting too much weight on his ankle.

Rick snarled under his breath, and stormed out of the house, machete in hand. He would keep watch from outside. The cold was already helping to cool his temper as he paced around the house, almost hoping for a walker to attack.

“What just happened?” Beth asked.

Carol huffed. “I’ll tell you what happened. We heard Rick hit Lori!”

More than one jaw dropped at that announcement, but Carl had listened to enough at that point. “Would you knock it off?” he asked, eerily calm and reminiscent of his father. They all turned to look at him. “Maybe you should have asked either of my parents what happened before you decided to pass judgment on him. Maybe instead of punching him, you could have asked. You weren’t there. I was still in the room. Dad didn’t hit mom.”

Carol was trying to calm down, but she knew the sounds of a hard smack across the face, and had heard Lori’s curse. Memories of her own experiences with spousal abuse reared up from a buried place in her mind. “Carl, you don’t have to cover for your father…”

“Oh my gosh, would you shut up already?” Carl snapped, and people silenced more out of shock. “Mom hit dad! That’s what you heard. They were having a fight, like they always do, and she slapped him. I saw it. So, does that mean you’re going to go and hit my mom now, Carol?” When she simply stared at him in shock, he almost sneered at her. “I didn’t think so.” He grabbed his gun and went to the garage.

Carol looked as though she had been sucker punched, and quite a few others didn’t look any better. She looked about ready to burst into tears, or run out of the house to find Rick. Daryl hobbled over to her.

“Not a good idea,” he muttered. “Give him a chance to cool off.”

“I, I punched him. He’d just been hit, and I hit… I hit him again,” she whispered, accepting the arm that Daryl put around her shoulders. Daryl looked up at the others. “Beth, why don’t you go check on Lori?” Beth scurried to obey. Then he paused. He knew that Rick needed some time, but wasn’t sure exactly how to handle this. Hershel solved that for him.

“You guys get some food ready. I’ll go talk to him.” Daryl just nodded, and Hershel left the house, walking slowly to get his thoughts in order. He went out the front door and sat down on the steps, watching as Rick paced around the house.

After nearly half an hour, Rick had calmed down some, and slowly walked over to the older man. “Everything alright inside?” he asked shortly.

Hershel leaned back calmly. “Depends on what you mean by that. Everyone’s shook up, that’s for sure.”

“What? You aren’t going to jump on me, tell me I’m going to hell?” Rick demanded, not in the mood for a sermon.

Shrug. “I don’t see why God would criticize you for being struck by your wife.” When Rick’s head whirled around to face him again, he elaborated. “Carl was still in the room when it happened. He laid into Carol something fierce.”

Rick sighed heavily, stumbling towards the porch steps. “He was still in the room? We thought he had already gone to give the food to everyone.”

Hershel shook his head. “I don’t know for sure, but I think he came back in once he heard you two arguing.” There was silence for a while. “How long, Rick?”

He struggled not to laugh, since it wouldn’t exactly seem appropriate. “She’s never done something like that before. She’s exhausted, hormonal, terrified of anything else happening… you know. It was a one off.”

A raised brow met his words. “If that was the case, I don’t see you coming out here like the hounds of hell were after you. I can’t see you taking that from Carol, either.”

Dropping his face into his hands, Rick tried to ground himself, but it wasn’t working very well. He took a deep breath, but couldn’t look up at the older man. “A relationship before Lori, actually. It wasn’t right, and it wasn’t healthy. For either of us. I got sent to the ER twice during that year, but I never could bring myself to report it. It took a while for me and Lori to make it work. We talked about it when Carl was a baby. Said she’d never lay her hands on me as long as I promised the same.”

Hershel didn’t say a word, just let Rick talk it out. He knew that there were dimensions to that marriage, just like any marriage, and he wasn’t going to stick his nose where it didn’t belong.

Before he could say anything, Rick stood again, clearly wanting to distance himself from that conversation. “I’m going to check some of the other houses, see what they have in the way of supplies. I’ll be back in a while.”

“Rick, it’s almost dark. Get some rest, and then take someone with you,” Hershel pleaded, but he could tell that it was no use.

“Tell them I’ll be back in a while. Make sure someone stays on guard, keeping an eye out.” Rick just turned and started heading over to the next house down.


	2. Chapter 2

Rick hefted the bags over his shoulder, headed to the last house on the block. So far, it seemed like this neighborhood was nearly untouched. He’d found a handgun, two shotguns, and various ammunition, canned food, bottled water, and a plethora of sweaters, blankets, and winter clothes. It was everything that they needed, and more than he could have hoped for.

Gently, as quietly as he could, he laid the bags down, crouching as he stepped towards the last house. He didn’t hear anything, but that never meant anything for sure. With one hand, he opened the door, and peered inside. The hallway was empty, so he slowly moved forward with both gun and machete in hand. Since he was by himself, he wasn’t going to risk getting snuck up on. He moved nearly silently from room to room.

When it seemed that it was empty, he holstered his gun and grabbed a backpack that he found in a kid’s room, making his way to the kitchen. He was pulling a couple of dusty cans out of the pantry, when he heard a creak behind him. He whirled around, gun pulled and cocked in one smooth motion that he’d perfected over his years as a cop.

It was only Carl, though, with his own gun at the ready.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded, not willing to admit the momentary heart attack that came from aiming his gun at Carl.

“You hadn’t come back yet. I was making sure you were alright,” Carl told him as he put his gun away. He’d offered it back to Daryl, but had been told to keep it. “Find anything?”

Rick lowered his gun as well. “Yeah, there’s a few bags outside. This neighborhood hasn’t been looted yet. There’s still lots of supplies. Why don’t you see if there’s some food here, I’m going to check the rest of the house?”

They finished up with that last house pretty quickly, and started making their way back. “Hershel said… he said that you were in the room, when your mom and I were arguing.”

Carl kicked a stone that was in the street. “Yeah. Why?”

“I’m sorry, son. I didn’t want you to have to see that; or hear it, for that matter.”

“She shouldn’t have hit you,” Carl said, scowling.

Rick stopped them, setting his bags on the concrete. “No, she shouldn’t have. She’s stressed, and the baby isn’t helping, though. She doesn’t want you to have to grow up any faster than you already are. The fact is, she’s sort of right.”

“Dad!”

“No, hear me out. You aren’t an adult yet, Carl. Whenever I can, I will protect you. Me, Daryl, Glenn, T… we’re the adults, the protectors. You’ll be going out there with us soon enough, but not just yet. When you can help us, it’s with that aim of yours, your sight. You’re a great lookout Carl, better than some of the others. That’s what you can do to help us.”

Carl’s expression had gone from sullen to serious during that speech. He nodded in understanding. “I got it,” he said.

“Good,” he nodded as well, picking the supplies back up. He knew that all he’d needed to do was make it clear to Carl that he was able to be helpful, and that would make things easier for all of them. He would die before he would put his son in unnecessary danger.

“I’ve got a question, though,” Carl said hesitantly.

Rick kept walking, but turned to his son. “What’s that?”

“Mom treated you like crap, and so did Carol. Why are you doing this? Bringing supplies back for everyone? Doesn’t seem like they deserve it.” The sullen look was back.

Rick sighed as he hefted the bags, which were getting heavy on his shoulders. “I’m their leader. It doesn’t matter how I feel personally anymore. They are my responsibility, which means I have to look out for and take care of them, as much as I can. That’s just what a leader does.”

Carl knew that it wasn’t that simple, but he shrugged.

They went through the back door, and nodded at Beth, who was keeping an eye out. “Carl? When did you leave?” she demanded.

He smirked. “A while ago. I just wanted to find my dad.”

Rick had left the two to their conversation, but took the bags from Carl, and went to the living room. Lori was sitting on the couch next to Maggie, who had Glenn’s head in her lap as they both slept. Daryl was wincing as he retied the bandage around his ankle, and Carol was talking with Hershel in the corner.

He set the bags down in the middle of the room. “Found some supplies,” he said, and immediately had everyone’s attention. “The area’s clear of Walkers for now, but there were some on the street and in the houses. I’d say we stay put for a few days if we can, but be ready to pull up stakes at any time. I doubt that herd we ran into a couple of days ago is too far behind.”

Carol flinched at the bruise that was already blossoming on his cheek, and rubbed her sore hand. “What did you find?” she asked, as kindly as she could.

Rick refused to look at her or his wife. “We’ve got some more food, water, winter clothes and blankets, found some weapons.” He looked at Hershel before tossing him one of the bags. “I don’t know what those medicines are, but maybe you could tell us if they’re helpful or not.” He gave some of the ammunition to Daryl, who looked shocked as he took it.

“You alright?” Daryl asked as he started taking apart the guns. They could do with a good cleaning, having been lying around for a while, probably even before the world ended. His eyes subtly checked the leader for any type of injuries, but didn’t see anything other than the bruise that was beginning on his cheek.

Rick just shrugged. “You’d all better get some rest.” He saw a fireplace, and smiled slightly. “I’ll see if there’s any firewood out back.” When no one said anything, he turned to head outside.

He returned a few minutes later with a few logs, and gently laid them next to T Dog, who quickly and efficiently started a fire. They would try to keep it from smoking too much, since that would be another sign that the neighborhood wasn’t completely deserted, but would finally be able to warm up slightly after having been on the road for so long.

Beth helped him get some water heated so that they would be able to wash up, as well. Each of them was covered in walker blood and grime. Once that was finished, he motioned for her to head to her sleeping bag.

Glenn and Maggie were still coughing in the furthest corner, looking absolutely miserable. Lori had already sorted through the clothing that he’d brought back and had wasted no time in giving the warmest clothes to the sick pair. Hopefully it would do something for them.

Rick watched as Lori laid down on the couch, pulling one of the newer blankets over her, trying to hide her sniffles. He’d seen the looks she was giving him, but there were things that demanded his attention more than his marital problems. He waited until everyone was down for the night before he went over to Daryl, who had remained at his post by the window. “Anything?” he asked softly.

Daryl shook his head, keeping his eyes on the street. After a few minutes, he spoke. “That was pretty smart, what you did today. You, T, and Carl in a circle, makin’ sure there were no blind spots.”

Rick nodded, not sure where he was going with this.

“It was great that you found some ammo, but we can’t afford to waste any. Maybe we start getting more used to using knifes, spikes, whatever, and start using that formation. A bit more hand to hand, you know, and no one getting snuck up on?” Daryl asked.

Thinking about it, it was pretty smart. They couldn’t keep burning through their bullets the way they had been. It would take some practice, but he thought they could make it work. “That’s good. In a few days, once you and Glenn and Maggie are up and about, we’ll start practicing.” The other man nodded at him, then turned to look out the window again. “Daryl, go get some rest,” Rick ordered, grabbing his arm. “I’ll take watch tonight.”

“You sure?” he asked. The leader just looked at him, so he shrugged. “Alright, might as well. Wake me if you need some rest, alright?”

Rick just shrugged, and took the seat by the window, knowing that Daryl wouldn’t let him help him to a better spot. He stared out the window, trying not to get lost in his thoughts. He refused to let himself think about his family, or their complicated relationship at the moment.

Instead, he started thinking about what Daryl had said. They had known for a while that they were low on bullets, and Daryl on bolts. He remembered telling Shane that they needed to start using their knives more, but had then promptly forgotten that after they left the farm.

It would work. As soon as Daryl’s ankle was better, and Glenn and Maggie were feeling better, assuming none of the rest of them got sick, they would start drills. It might seem stupid, but you never know. One day it might just save their lives.


End file.
